Shifting Hearts
by Blue November
Summary: Picks up at the end of SPD. With Jack gone, Sky and Bridge get promoted, but the team still needs a Green Ranger. Kruger chooses Danielle Green, a cadet from an off world acadamey with the ability to shapeshift. Can Sky learn to trust?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except the ones I made up so please don't sue my happy ass 

This is my first fan fic ever! Please give me feed back so I know if should scrap the whole idea and move on to jobs I'm better suited for …like decorative sheep shearing.

_Authors Note: For the most part I left everything as normal continuity the only thing I felt the need to really change was the ages of the rangers. Who in their right mind makes a bunch of teenager's cops? So I've taken the artistic liberty of making them all adults. Just pretend that through the entire series they have all been in their 20's. The age difference between the rangers will remain the same. Sky is still the oldest and Bridge is still the youngest but lets say youngest is 21, cause there is no way in hell Bridge was only 17. I remember what 17-year-old boys look like and well….it wasn't like that.  So the ages are as follows (at the start of my story) Sky: 25 Bridge: 22 Z: 22 Syd: 23 Dani: 24 is that okay for everyone? I hope so cause it's my story. Oh yeah and I'm still not sure about the whole spandex thing…maybe leather……_

Chapter 1

Aside from the occasional blips and whirrs of the computers SPD was quiet. It had been a little over a month since emperor Grumm had been defeated and sent to a maximum-security prison off world. His trial was set to begin next week. He would be found guilty, no doubt, but it was the process of a fair trial that was important to distinguish them from the monsters. New Tech City was able to sleep peacefully and Officer Schuyler Tate was bored.

A tiny smirk passed by his lips. _Officer Tate, _it sounded good, he thought to himself. _Red Ranger_, it felt right. This is what he always aspired to be, what his father was. With A squad imprisoned for treason, and Jack resigned, Sky was now the leader. Too bad he had nothing to lead his team against. _Not that I want another maniac out to take over the world, _he pondered, _but something would be better than sitting here doing nothing. _Maybe it was for the best though; they were still down one ranger. When Sky had been promoted to Red, Bridge had subsequently moved up to Blue. Z had chosen to remain yellow; her reasoning that she had not gone to the academy and still had a lot to learn. And Syd? Well there was no getting her to give up the color pink. It would mean a whole new wardrobe, and well green just really wasn't her color.

Officer Tate sat at the main terminal occasionally performing scans and finding just what he expected…quiet. _What could be taking Kruger so long? We need a new green ranger. _It's not like there hadn't been plenty of applications, and if evil did arise Sky didn't want to be caught unprepared. They needed five. If all else to drive the runners, the megazord would look odd with one leg missing.

Officer Tate sighed_ I'm sure he's just making certain he finds the right cadet for the job._ _At least I hope it's a cadet from the academy. Someone who's been properly trained in SPD policy and procedure, fighting techniques…the law. _Not that Jack and Zweren't great rangers. What bothered Sky was there lack of formal training. Kruger had them arrested for stealing and then made them RANGERS! Z had taken to it well enough. She seemed to crave the discipline that went along with being a Ranger and now knew the SPD rulebook almost as well as he did. Jack on the other hand had been wild and reckless. Often disregarding the rules all together in favor for his own ideas of how things should be done. In the end, though, it worked for him. Sky respected him greatly as a leader and a friend, although he was hard pressed not to admit that the day Jack had chosen to do charity work instead of lead SPD was one of the happiest days of Sky's life, not because Jack was gone, but because he knew that he was next in line to lead. Something he had always felt he deserved and had worked very hard to accomplish.

Sky glanced at his wrist unit, 2:45am. His watch shift was almost over. Soon one of the C squad cadets would take over and he would make his way to some much-needed sleep. Officer Tate raised his eyes to the soft whoosh of the command center doors sliding open. A young female cadet entered slowly.

He acknowledge her presence, "Good morning Cadet Swanson". Sky made it a point to remember the cadet's names.

"Good morning Officer Tate" She looked down at something on the floor that Sky could not see. A slight blush rose in her cheeks. "Anything interesting tonight sir?" she inquired.

"No it's quiet as usual. Not a reason to let down our guard however" He rose from his seat the soft glow of the computers illuminating his features.

"Yes sir "The young cadet straightened her stance and saluted.

Sky nodded in approval "as you were" he patted her shoulder as he made his way to the door "have a good shift".

"Thank you sir" she replied as the doors slid back closed Cadet Swanson allowed her body to relax and sighed "Wait until I tell the others HE touched me!"

Sky made his way to his room. That had been another perk of the promotions they all received. Each Officer was assigned their own living quarters. It's not that Bridge hadn't been a good roommate but all those little bits of computer everywhere was disconcerting not to mention the constant smell of burnt toast.

A clear picture of his bed, his pillow, and his head on it, was forming in his mind. The graveyard shift always disrupted his normally strict sleeping schedule. However he was the Red Ranger now and he considered them minor inconveniences. What was becoming a major inconvience though was the sideshow he seemed to have become to the female population at SPD.

It seemed no matter where he went a flock of girls seemed to position themselves in his path staring as he passed, either at him or the floor. The one thing he was sure of is the giggling that always seemed to be in his wake. The Red Ranger paused outside his door. _Maybe it's not such a bad thing. _Before he never had much time for girls and dating. Too many things to do, he had Earth to protect after all. But now with Grumm and his armies defeated maybe it was time to start looking back. He shook his head.

"Door Open" What it was time for was sleep. He could contemplate this all in the morning…

Thank you for the reviews I've received! But remember people the more you review the more I'll feel appreciated and the more I'll feel the need to finish!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kruger looked again at the stack of applications. There had been more than he had expected. Of course with everything that had transpired in the past year his rangers had garnered quite the reputation. Everyone wanted to be apart of Kruger's Famous B Squad Rangers and the fact that the biggest warlord in the galaxy was now behind bars was, I'm sure, just a perk. Anubis knew better. With Grumm out of the way that just meant that one of the lesser scum of the galaxy would step up thinking that his time had come and blah blah blah…. But until then he was enjoying the peace or at least he would be if this particular headache would go away.

He turned his attention back to the folder in front of him, Cadet Danielle (Dani) Green. Her application came from one of the off world academies, her interview done over the link. Kruger smiled he wasn't entirely sure who she thought she was kidding. It had taken minimal amounts of research with the standard background check to discover that Green was not her last name. It was Oliver, as in Dr. Thomas Oliver.

Anyone who knew his or her Ranger history knew who he was. Danielle was the daughter of the greatest living Power Ranger of their time. _No wonder she had applied under a false name._ Kruger could respect that. She wanted to make it on her own accomplishments. And made it she had. Her record was impressive, top of her class, highest marks on all her exams, passing all her physical requirements with flying colors, and like the other rangers she had a genetic mutation.

It seemed through all Dr. Oliver's many Ranger incarnations he had passed along to his daughter the ability to "morph" on her own. Cadet Green was a shape shifter. She could take the form of any human or alien given that they had the same basic shape (two arms, two legs, ONE head). Danielle Green would be a fantastic addition to his rangers Kruger mused _but would they accept her_? People got a little funny about shape shifters. Never sure that the face they see is the real one.

Commander Kruger leaned back in his chair and shut his eyes. Unfortunately when he reopened them nothing had changed, the decision still lay before him waiting to be made. _I remember when Bridge had entered the academy. There was a similar discomfort over his powers yet the other Rangers had accepted him well._ Anubis also had to take into account her gender. He knew he would be disrupting the balance of his team. A small growl escaped his throat. _She's good though, too good to pass up. _Commander Kruger had made up his mind.

Attn.: Cadet Danielle Green; Nova Academy

We are pleased to inform you that you have been chosen to fill the position of Green Ranger at SPD headquarters Earth. Please report to your new station by 0800 hrs on Monday July 13. We look forward to having you as part of our team.

Signed

Commander Anubis Kruger SPD Earth

Kruger contacted the commanding officer at Nova then sent the order. _In a few days we will have our new Green ranger_. He smiled "Doggie, come to bed" Anubis glanced over at his wife Insinia, NOW he could enjoy the peace.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Man adding this gets old fast. Obviously I do not own the Power Rangers otherwise what would I be doing here writing fan fiction when I could just be shooting all new episodes of SPD? That's what I thought.

Chapter 3

Monday Morning had arrived. The Rangers sat in the rec room attempting not to fall asleep into their various breakfast foods. Weeks of silence had ended last night when one of the last of Grumm's lower officers had finally surfaced. He was caught attempting to break into an alternative energy lab in order to steal a power source for the unauthorized robot he was constructing. Apparently the plan was to free the parts of his armies still imprisoned on earth and then use them to break out Grumm. He had even had a few Krybots left over. But no one ever said that Grumm had employed the smartest villains in the galaxy. The take down had taken a bit longer than it should of, still being down a ranger. But in the end they managed to successfully confine the perpetrator and Sky was optimistic. His team had done well all things considered. Suddenly the intercom system came to life

"Rangers report to the command center"

Z glared at the speaker in the ceiling from her oatmeal

"This better not be about last night" she raised her spoon defiantly. "I mean sure it took awhile but we brought him down didn't we?" the spoon attacked the oatmeal. "What does he expect anyway he still hasn't appointed a new green ranger" she considered the spoonful of gooey oats in front of her and decided it could be worse and devoured them.

"And I broke a nail "Syd held out her hand to show off the offense. Z glanced at her with a full mouth and a sympathetic look.

Busy buttering his toast, Bridge took time to enter the conversation,

"Maybe it could be our new Green Ranger? It has been forever now." He looked down at his masterpiece of buttery goodness "I wonder if he'll like toast ".

"What makes you think it will be a man?" said Z for the sake of argument.

Sky finally joined the conversation with one of his famous looks, raised eyebrow, just short of rolling his eyes.

"Of course it will be a man" he said confidently "It's always been a man"

" Oh yeah" glared Z" Well wasn't the A squad RED RANGER a woman?"

"Yes she was" said Sky calmly "And we all saw how well that worked out".

Syd disregarded her nail long enough to see the workings of a major fight between the Red and Yellow rangers.

"We should get going. You know how much the commander doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Z shoveled the last of her oatmeal into her mouth while shooting lasers with her eyes at Sky who was too busy crunching on the last bite of his apple to notice.

In the command center the rangers stood at attention waiting for Commander Kruger to speak

"Rangers" he turned to face them "Your performance last night was just short of disgraceful."

"But commander…" Officer Delgado interjected

"I'm not finished"

"Yes Sir"

"However, given that you've been short one ranger for the past month I realize that you did the best you could under the circumstances"

"Thank you Sir" Officer Tate beamed with pride

"I'm pleased to inform you that you will not have that problem again. I'd like to introduce you to your new Green Ranger"

It was just then that the rangers collectively noticed a woman in the green dress uniform standing behind Commander Kruger. She smiled warmly and stepped forward

"Officer Dani Green reporting for duty sir"

Her toned body was apparent even through the uniform. Her long dark brown hair cascaded down her back and swayed just slightly when she saluted to the rangers. Dani's emerald green eyes took stock of her new teammates. The Red Ranger was tall and lean with styled dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes. The Blue Ranger was only slightly shorter and his longer brown hair seemed to prefer the disheveled look. Her gaze turned to the Yellow and Pink rangers next. The first of the two was about the same height as her with dark brown hair pulled back into a short ponytail she had chocolate brown eyes and was wearing a small smirk on her lips. The other woman was the shortest member of the team but clearly the most fashion conscious. Her blond highlighted hair spilled over her shoulders in a mass of waves and curls and it was obvious that she didn't walk down the hall without her makeup on.

"Officer Green comes highly recommended from Nova Academy on Delta 9.I expect you all to welcome her back to Earth and embrace her as a fellow ranger."

Sky silently knew he would never hear the end of this from Delgado

"Officer Carson, I would like you to show Officer Green around Delta Command. Get her acquainted with the facilities and the grounds"

"Yes sir commander" Bridge turned his attention to Officer Green " Delta Base is the coolest! We have these great simulator rooms and the cafeteria is okay but there's this Chinese place around the corner not to far…"

"Bridge!" Commander Kruger interrupted, "save it for the tour"

"Sorry sir" he grinned shyly, the rest of the team shaking their heads at normal Bridge behavior. Always five steps ahead of himself and only rarely coherent to the rest of the world.

"You are dismissed" the rangers turned to leave. Bridge already bubbling with excitement over the base and prepared to fill Danielle Green in on all the things she might have missed while off world including, but not limited to, what was served for dinner last night.

"Sky I would like to have a word "

The Red Ranger stopped just short of the door "Yes sir?"

"This is Officer Green's official file, usual stuff test scores, power levels, area's of expertise. I believe you have already read everyone else's" Sky looked a bit sheepish, but Kruger knew that he was the kind of man who would want to know who he was working with, even if he already known the other rangers for a number of years. As the Red Ranger he would feel it was his duty to know.

Thank you sir" He accepted the folder from Kruger. "If I may ask though, another woman?"

"You question my decision?" Sky took the time to start inspecting the wall just above his commanders left shoulder.

"It's not that sir, its just ….the team has always been three men and two women." Kruger looked at him slightly bemused.

"Do you think the team will suffer for it Officer Tate?" Sky choose his words carefully

"Officers Delgado and Drew are superb rangers sir." Kruger nodded in agreement. "I suppose I won't know about Officer Green until I see her in action"

"I doubt you will be disappointed. She has certain skills that I believe will be invaluable to SPD." Sky cocked his head inquisitively, but Kruger did not offer up any more information. "Now go and properly introduce yourself and make her feel welcome."

"Yes sir" Officer Tate saluted and exited the command room.

Dr. Kat Manx who had been standing in the background approached Kruger

"Why didn't you tell Sky about Danielle's power? You know how he feels about shape shifters."

"I do know, and that's why I didn't tell him. It's something he will need to work out on his own if this team has any hope of working." Kat nodded knowingly.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own the Power Rangers blah blah blah …but if I did…mmm… Sky 

Chapter 4

Sky Tate caught up with the rest of the rangers in the rec room Danielle's file in hand_. Not even a ten minuets and poor Danielle looks like she might need saving from Bridge already_. He was trying to explain the intricacies of the toaster while simultaneously guiding her around the room, and over the couch, and under the counter. She dutifully followed her tour guide as best she could in a skirt and high-heeled boots. The girls were sitting on the couch enjoying the show while attempting to fit in questions between Bridges "ode to toast."

"So how was it living off world?" inquired Z

"More importantly" interrupted Syd "has my new CD made it up there yet? So far it's had great sales here"

"You buying up all the copies doesn't count Syd." Z said teasingly. Syd stuck out her tongue at the Yellow Ranger

Sky absorbed the scene. _So these are the B squad Rangers_. Resigned to his fate he made his way over to the new Green Ranger.

Carefully timing himself with Bridges banter he chose the right moment and then jumped in.

"You must be exhausted from your trip! Why don't you come sit down for a bit before Bridge drags you around the entire complex." Danielle gave a Sky a relieved smile and a look that clearly said Thank you.

He led her to one of the lounge chairs where she promptly collapsed on the soft cushions. Bridge took the chair on the other side of her while Sky remained standing.

"We didn't get a chance to be properly introduced in the command center. I'm Schuyler Tate you can call me Sky. You've already met Bridge Carson" he gestured towards the couch "That's Elizabeth Delgado.."

"Z" the Yellow Ranger corrected, "Everyone calls me Z."

"Right…" Sky continued "And that's Sydney Drew but you can call her Syd" He quickly added. The Pink Ranger nodded with approval.

The new Green Ranger acknowledged her teammates in turn

"Well as you all know my name is Danielle Green however since nicknames seem to be big" she grinned "You can call me Dani everyone else does."

Sky found it hard to take his eyes off her. The way her lips curved when she smiled, the bouncing light in her eyes, the way her uniform hugged her curves and the shade of green matched her eyes perfectly.

Dani caught Sky staring and politely cleared her throat.

"So…" Sky woke from his trance, a look of embarrassment skimming across the surface of his handsome face, before regaining his composure." Tell me about yourselves, Kruger's famous B squad rangers!"

"Well I don't know about famous," Sky said appearing humble

"Of course we're famous," piped up Syd "I mean we did save the Earth and everything" Z nodded in agreement.

"Okay," Sky conceded with a small smile of pride "Maybe a little bit"

"And as I understand it you all have genetic powers?" Dani cut right to the chase. This was one of the reasons she had put in her application here, at Delta Command. She had never been around other humans with powers before. Sure some of the other species at the academy had abilities, but nothing that wasn't normal for their race. It was amazing how if your species routinely took their heads off to go to sleep everyone was okay with that, but as soon as you became an anomaly within your race it was suddenly hard to find acceptance. At Nova her powers had been a closely guarded secret. She had heard that, here, the Rangers all knew about one another and used their gifts in everyday life.

Never one to be shy about her powers Z stepped up to answer first

"Yes we all have certain unique abilities." She glanced at the other rangers and then looked directly at Dani. There was a sudden glow in her eyes and Dani felt there was someone looking over her shoulder. She turned her body to look and nearly fell out of her chair. Dani was astonished to see an exact copy of Z Delgado standing behind her.

"That's amazing! You can make copies of yourself?"

"Exact replicates yeah." There was another glow of her eyes and the replicate disappeared. Not to be outdone Sydney volunteered next

"I can make my hands match the density of anything I touch. Diamonds are my favorite." To demonstrate she pulled out a large diamond necklace from beneath her uniform "Present from daddy" she giggled. Syd had grown up in a very wealthy family.

With all eyes focused on the diamond in her hands Syd ordered " Fist of Diamond" and in a flash her hand now shone bright with the light reflecting off the diamond hard surface that used to be her skin. She held out her hand in admiration

"One of these days I'm going to go in and get myself appraised."

Z and Sky rolled their eyes simultaneously. Sky drew away Dani's attention from the Pink Ranger by demonstrating his own power.

"I can make energy force shields". Sky took a step back and then palm facing out he moved his arm in a circular motion a wave of blue energy trailing out behind it. With the circle complete, Sky now had a small radiating wall in front of him. Not being able to help herself Dani stood up and gave Sky's shield a few experimental taps with her fingers.

"Depending on the size of the shield I can hold it for close to two hours and it can withstand almost a ton" The Red Ranger surprised himself at the amount of information he had just divulged about his power. Normally he wasn't that forthcoming about anything. There was a small recently unused part of his brain that told him he was showing off.

Bridge was nearly jumping out of his skin for his turn. Dani saw the small barely contained movements coming from the Blue Ranger, sat back down in her seat, and faced Bridge to ask him what his power could be.

"I read auras," he proclaimed. There was a puzzled look on Officer Green's face "I'm empathic" he tried to explain to her more clearly." I can see the feelings and moods of others in the form of colors and shapes. Although recently I've been hearing voices too…"

Dani nodded her head the way you do when somebody declares they hear voices

"Not like crazy voices telling me to drown kittens, cause that would be bad, not to mention Dr. Manx is part feline so I'm sure she wouldn't be pleased, but other peoples voices just thinking everyday thoughts. And then there are the dreams like I had this one where we were fighting three robots at once at night and then I woke up and we fought all three robots from my dream but only one at a time and it was daytime. And well if you want I could read your aura for you I usually do it for all the new recruits."

For a moment the bouncing light in Dani's eyes was replaced by the harsh glare of panic. Sky was the only one who seemed to have noticed. The part of his brain that was quiet accustomed to being used forced itself back into the forefront, mumbling about suspicious behavior. _Why wouldn't she want her aura read? Is she hiding something? You don't know her._

Dani quickly recovered "You know Bridge maybe later; It was such along trip I'm afraid you'd only get how tired I am"

She gave him a warm smile that could put anyone at ease and Sky relaxed a little shooing the suspicion back into it's corner.

"So Dani" Z inquired "what about you? Have any powers of your own?"

The look of panic resurfaced on Dani's face. Her mind started it's own 50 yard dash. _Should I tell them? They're bound to find out. Even though I kept my powers a secret from my fellow cadets I couldn't keep their existence out of my official file _She eyed the large folder in Officer Tate's possession. _He's going to read about it, and he'll tell the others….Maybe it's better if I tell them first. Show them they can trust me._ Uncertain of her decision Dani nodded her head.

"I do" she started cautiously "But most people get a little freaked out by it so I uh …don't usually tell people. In fact nobody at my former academy knew."

"Its okay" assured Z "We're all freaks of nature here" she looked pointedly at Sky who winced at his former words.

Schuyler Tate had never really believed that his power was a gift but more of a curse, something that would always set him apart from everyone else. He refrained from using his power more often than necessary. It wasn't until he met Z that he began to change his mind. She believed that they all had their powers for a reason and there was no point in being ashamed of them.

All the rangers were now staring quietly at Danielle Green. She looked at each of them in turn wondering if she still had time to back out._ I could go back to Nova right now. They have their own set of rangers. I don't have to be here. I could leave. No one ever really has to know what I am. No. If not now…._ Her gaze stopped on Officer Tate. _Then surely later. _

"I ….um…"she cleared her throat "I'm a shape shifter"

The whole room shifted uncomfortably. Sky took a small step back while the suspicion leapt out of its corner in his mind yelling_ I told you so!_ Deciding an exhibition was in order Dani stood up and chose Z. Officer Delgado would already be accustomed to seeing herself standing in front of her.

Danielle looked at Z and asked, "May I?" The yellow ranger understood the question and nodded, and just like that Danielle Green began to change. Hair became shorter, eyes changed shape and darkened, skin shimmered as it switched skin tones. Everything down to the smallest detail became Elizabeth Delgado.

There was a collective gasp from the room. Dani looked at Sky through Z's eyes and recognized the urge to run. It was an expression she had become very familiar with in her life. People just didn't want to trust you when they weren't sure who YOU really were.

Z finally broke the uncomfortable silence as she got up to inspect a copy of her that wasn't hers.

"That's remarkable. It's just like one of my replicates. Why would you hide this?" Officer Green was stunned. She didn't know how to respond. Syd joined Z in the inspection of Dani.

"What about your voice? Does it change too?"

In Z's voice Dani replied, "Everything changes." She gave a small turn, "For all purposes I AM Z Delgado."

In her peripheral vision Dani saw Sky slowly backing out of the room. Once he had reached the door he turned, and she swore she heard running. Dani began to shift back to her original form.

"I knew this was a bad idea."

She stared at the door debating following Officer Tate out. Not to catch him, but to find the nearest spaceport to send her back home. Z noticed the absence of Sky and Dani staring at the open door.

"Don't worry about him," she said, "He'll come around. Sky's just not very good with change" Bridge had joined the girls standing in the middle of the rec room.

"So can you really be anybody?"


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer – I don't own the Power Rangers Disney does, However Disney owns everything including my soul so in a way I guess maybe I do own the Power Rangers by proxy! Hmmm I doubt that would hold up in court. Disney would probably own the jury.

Chapter 5

Officer Tate burst into Commander Kruger's Office. By sheer luck Anubis Kruger was actually there sitting at his desk catching up on long neglected paperwork. Without waiting for acknowledgment Sky exploded.

"A SHAPESHIFTER! YOU LET A SHAPESHIFTER INTO THE ACADAMEY!" Without looking up from his computer Kruger quietly replied.

"I ask you again Officer Tate. Do you have a problem with my decision?"

"Yes I have a problem with your damn decision!" He was fuming "First she's a woman and now a shape shifter! How could you? He demanded, "How do we even know she is who she says she is? What if she's a spy! You can't trust someone who can be anyone!" Kruger let Sky finish his tirade before speaking. "For all we know there is no Danielle Green she's just a….."

Kruger stood up from his desk and loomed over Sky. He was a full 5 inches taller then your average human.

"Just a what?" Commander Kruger glared

"I don't know sir." The Red Ranger squirmed under the scrutiny of his commanding officer. Suddenly his out burst didn't seem like such a good idea.

"For your information Officer Tate SPD is not stupid. We fully understand the dangers of allowing a shape shifter into the academy and we have taken all necessary precautions to protect the security of ALL involved."

"What precautions?"

"That is none of your concern" Kruger didn't feel that Sky needed to know about the multitude of tests that Officer Green had been subjected to upon her arrival.

"As for some of your other accusations the same could be said for every cadet here. Do I need to remind you of your friend Dru Harrington?"

Sky stared at the floor. He remembered all to well. Someone he had known ever since he was a boy, they came in the academy together, had turned out to be a traitor. Paid by Broodwing to assassinate Commander Kruger, and he would have succeeded too if Jack hadn't been so suspicious. The rangers had taken him down and now his childhood friend spent his days in prison off world. Dru had been a shape shifter of sorts too though. He could switch between human form and his natural alien shape, a fact that Sky had not known until it was too late.

"Now I know how you feel about shape shifters Sky, and I'm sorry I let you read about it instead of telling you."

"Read about it?" Sky looked at the folder in his hands. He had completely forgotten about it. "I didn't read about it sir she told us."

"Really?" He hadn't expected that.

From what he had found out about her Danielle Green had hid her secret from everyone at her academy. So why would she voluntarily tell the Rangers when it is a power that is so easily hidden? _Because she knew Sky had her file and would tell that other Rangers. She wanted them to hear it from her first._

"You know Sky I had a lot of cadets too choose from when making my decision. Sure I could have chosen someone who wasn't surrounded by controversy, someone who fit the mold of what people believe a ranger should be. But to be honest Danielle Green was the best. Best in her class Best in her entire academy in fact. We could use someone with her talents on our side. Did you stop to think about how invaluable she would be on stakeouts or undercover missions? She can be anyone, blend in anywhere!"

"No sir I didn't even…"

"Of course you didn't" Kruger reprimanded "Once you get an idea in your head you can be very hard to sway. You're a stubborn man Schuyler Tate, a lot like your father; don't let that be your downfall." Kruger turned his back on Sky indicating that the conversation was over.

Officer Tate slowly walked from the Commanders Office. _Damn him _He started to flip through Danielle Green's file. Kruger was right she was the best. But that didn't change what he knew or how he felt. The Commander had brought up some sensitive issues with Sky.

He closed the folder; he would review her file more fully later. Right now he needed to clear his mind the best way he knew how. Sky turned the corner and headed for the gym.

Do you like? Then tell me so please review! Also I'm not completely against ideas either please if you think it could be better things can be revised, So far I only have my friend reading over it to correct spelling errors or improper uses of the forms of there..thier….she's never actually seen the show.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Fan fic's are considered to be highly addictive and may contain- flights of fancy, overactive imaginations, and obsessive hallucinations of how the author believes things ought to be. Continued consumption may result in – loss of sleep, pasty skin tones, and loss of touch with reality. Please consume in moderation and remember always….read responsibly. Oh yeah and I don't own the Power Rangers._

Chapter 6

Back in the rec room Dani was being bombarded with questions, mostly from Bridge.

"When you change does it hurt?"

"Not really, it feels…" She groped for the right word, "…like stretching." Was the best she could do

"Stretching?"

"Yeah. You know that first really good stretch in the morning? Everything pulls and twists and then when your done it feels a bit tingly and your mind goes cloudy for a second? It's like that. Everything in my body modifies itself and when it's done my mind takes a second to adjust to my new shape."

"What about animals? Can you do a platypus?"

Dani smiled, this was kinda fun. No one besides the doctors and lab techs had ever asked her this much about her power. Even then it had been more for the research. They made her go through so many tests. How far could she go? Could she duplicate someone who was twice her body mass? How many times could she consecutively shift before there was no energy left to do so? Did she have to be around the person or could she duplicate from a picture? Could she change herself without having to mimic someone else? Although she had to admit, as tedious as all the testing had been, she had learned a lot about herself and had a greater understanding and control over her power.

"What am I, a circus clown with a bag of balloons?" She laughed, "No I can't do most animals. I have to stay true to my most basic shape."

"How about aliens? Oh, can you do Commander Kruger?"

Dani considered this. Commander Kruger was one of the last Sirian's; he stood upright with two arms and two legs, but was otherwise decidedly canine. The snout might be tricky.

"I could try" She closed her eyes and formed a mental image of the Commander, and then Dani Green began to stretch.

She felt her nose push out and connect with her upper jaw. Her ears became pointed and migrated to the top of her head, where her long brown hair was quickly receding. About a foot in height, a skin change from soft white to rough blue and, wow! The sounds! The smells! She wasn't prepared for the onslaught of senses_. Cadets down the hall headed this way…no wait …turning …footsteps fading….cafeteria one floor down…serving chicken…and potatoes…how does he make it through the day!_ Dani opened Kruger's eyes and looked around, surprisingly in color. She had always been told that dogs were colorblind, but there almost appeared to be an extra color around everything making the world shimmer just a bit.

Commander Kruger now stood in front of the rangers.

"That's incredible," said Z, "You could go anywhere in Delta command like that." The others fell silent, realization wiping the smiles off their face. It was what Sky already knew. She could go anywhere; do anything. Voice coded locks, fingerprints, iris scans, not much of a barrier against someone who could be you. The smell of fear began to permeate the air as the ranger's thought about what could happen to their privacy if Dani wasn't as trustworthy as Kruger believed her to be.

_I have to get out of this body before his senses drive me mad. _Dani's body converted back to her original form until she was herself again.

"Look guys…I…well the fact is everything I can see you thinking is probably true. I can go anywhere and get into almost anything with a minimal amount of effort. But it all comes down to trust. I'll trust you, Z, not to gang up on me with five of you replicates, and Bridge I'll trust you not to read my aura, or mind, unless I ask. If you'll trust me not to invade your privacy or use your shape without your consent." None of her fellow teammates could bring themselves to look her in the eye.

"Well now that I've managed to sufficiently alienate myself on the first day, I think I'll go find my room now." Officer Green started for the door. The other rangers all stared at the ground, each feeling a touch of shame. Didn't they all remember what it was like to feel that way? They had all been ostracized by their peers for being different, they all carried the scars. Almost in unison they jumped out of their seats.

Z called out "Dani wait!"

Officer Green stopped in the doorway and turned. Bridge reached her first and he didn't even need to take off his gloves to feel the sadness coming in waves off her. It made his heart ache. _How terrible it must be to go through life with her ability and have no one trust you even though you are a perfectly trustworthy person. _Officer Carson probably understood this better than any of the others.

"We're sorry," said Z

"Yeah, it's not like we don't all know what's it's like to be different." Added Syd.

"She's right, we all remember what it felt like when others found out about us. The stares, the teasing, hell I even got beat up a couple of times. People fear what they don't understand, and no one ever really understood us until we found each other." The Blue and Pink rangers nodded in agreement. "So please excuse our sudden lapse in better judgment. You can even kick our collective ass, we deserve it."

Bridge felt the change almost immediately. The sadness was still an undertone, but it was being overshadowed by the feelings of relief and joy. He briefly wondered if the sadness ever actually went away. Maybe he would try to find out later, with her permission of course. For now though he would indulge himself in the joy.

"So the tour is far from over!" He exclaimed, quickly changing subjects. "Where to next?"

"I don't know you're supposed to be guiding me. Lead the way!

"Right" Bridge started to spout off random facts about SPD as he led her down the hallway, but Dani wasn't fully paying attention. She was still processing everything Z had said. "_Until we had found each other." I've never really found anyone who understood me before. _For the first time in her life Danielle Green felt like maybe she had.

_Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing this and my other fics! I really appreciate the feedback! And remember the more you review the more I'll be inspired to write! So please questions, comments, suggestions? They're all welcome! I need to know if the sheep shears will be necessary…_


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any creative material that has come from said show. See I can make it sound legal!_

Chapter 7

The tour took Officer Green in, out, up, and around Delta command. A quick lunch in the cafeteria had only proved to alienate Dani from her fellow female teammates even more.

"You're on your fifth helping of chicken!" Syd exclaimed. "How can you possibly keep that figure when you eat like it's going out of style!"

Dani looked down guiltily at her size 3 waist.

"Well the thing is, in order to change shape I need all the energy and protein that I can get. I'm, actually constantly having to eat just to keep moving. The first three helpings were just to make up for this morning."

"You mean to tell me that, after all that food, and without working out, you won't gain a pound?"

"Well…..to be fair moving all your features around is it's own kind of workout." She felt the daggers pointed in her direction from Syd and Z.

"I'm sorry?" she tried.

"I hate you," said Z with a grin.

"I'm sorry?" Dani tried again, and they all laughed.

Two more helpings of potatoes and a piece of chicken later, the tour group ended up in front of the gym. They joined the queue of girls in front of the observation window.

"Sky must be in there," said Syd knowingly

"What makes you say that?" asked Dani. Syd waved her hand indicating the gaggle of female cadets staring through the window.

"This happens every time he comes here, word spreads and poof instant crowd."

"Really." Dani had to push her way to through the mass. A handful of the girls saw the uniform and moved politely aside. A few others, it took the persuasion of her elbows, to get the point across.

Once she had reached the window, Danielle saw that indeed Officer Tate was working out. Sky was at the bench press with, what seemed to be an inordinate amount of weights for a man his size. The sweat ran down his face as he silently counted off the reps. Dani couldn't help but stare a little with the other fascinated girls.

"How long has he been here?" whispered a cadet who had just arrived.

"I heard it's been a few hours." Replied a red head on her left

"Wow" said the new arrival, "He must be really pissed off about something."

"I heard Kruger appointed a new Green Ranger this morning." Whispered the red head with exceptionally good hearing

"You think that set him off?

"I heard it was a woman, and that he thought it was going to be another man, and now he's upset." At that Dani had to stop the conversation. She loudly cleared her throat and looked pointedly at the two rumor mills. The red head turned as though she might have something to say, and then noticed Danielle's uniform and the bright green slash down the left side. She nudged her friend, the new arrival, and they both turned and ran for it. Officer Drew suddenly appeared in the void.

"Did you hear that Syd?" Asked Dani.

"What about Sky being pissed off at you? Don't worry about them, just a bunch of rumors." She waved her hand dismissively. "However I think I do believe the one about him being here for hours. Just look at that man glisten." Syd tilted her head slightly to better enjoy the view.

"You know he was voted sexiest man at SPD?" said Z's voice from behind her. Dani was hardly paying attention. Syd had drawn attention to the glistening and she was right. The red wife beater he wore was barley enough to cover his lean torso. His muscles bulged with the effort of his bench presses. His normally styled hair was now tousled from the work out; the gel had given up the ghost in the first hour.

"I also have it on high authority," whispered Syd conspiratorially "That Sky is very single."

"Huh?" His movements entranced Dani. Z poked her in the back and Officer Green bounced back to reality.

"Wow, no wonder he draws a crowd, he's….."

"Stoic?" offered Z

"Handsome?" tried Syd

"HOT." The three rangers turned to the cadet standing to their right.

"Sorry didn't mean to butt in…." The ladies turned their attention back to the Red Ranger.

Sky replaced the barbell and carefully sat up grabbing a small white towel to wipe his face. Picking up his water bottle, he took a long, deep drink, and noticed the new additions to his audience. _They were bound to make it to the gym eventually._ He looked at his watch._ Shouldn't have taken this long though, unless Bridge deliberately lead her around it._ She was standing with the other girls but in Sky was sure she would stand out wherever she was._ Those lips, those eyes…_Sky felt stirrings of emotions he wasn't used to._ Of course that's assuming those are her real eyes,_ He thought a bit disgustedly. It didn't take long for the shame to start knocking away at his conscience. His body was a mess of confusion. Clearly he had more working out to do. He walked over to his bag, reached in, and produced two red boxing gloves. Meticulously he wrapped his wrists, and pulled the gloves over his hands, turned and began beating a blue punching bag into oblivion.

The girls stood transfixed by his movements.

"He's almost…graceful." Dani observed as he landed a series of short jabs fallowed by a roundhouse kick that nearly took the bag out of the ceiling. Even without his ranger power he was still incredibly fast and strong.

"Did I mention he was available?" Syd repeated. Dani turned to face the Pink Ranger

"I thought rangers weren't supposed to fraternize."

"Well that's great in theory, but when you spend so much time with the same people you really can't help what might happen." Syd grinned and nodded at Z, who immediately started to blush.

"You and …." Dani pointed at Sky through the glass.

"Oh no, not Sky." Z corrected. She then turned and gave a sheepish smile in Bridge's direction. Bridge was completely oblivious to the entire conversation. . He had backed up to a wall and was now doing a handstand with his eyes closed. He appeared to be deep in thought.

"What's he doing?" inquired Dani

"Oh that's just how he thinks." Replied Z. Dani looked at her with a raised eyebrow that could have rivaled Sky's.

"Bridge believes," she explained," That if you stand on your head while thinking it makes all your thoughts and ideas gravitate towards your brain."

"Really?"

"Hey it's not as crazy as it sounds." Defended the Yellow Ranger

"So… does he know…you know….how you feel?" Dani smiled mischievously

"You'd think with his power he have to know!" Z sounded a bit exacerbated.

"She just hasn't worked up the courage to say anything." Syd added not so helpfully.

"Yeah well I don't see you with anyone." Countered Z.

"I'm just taking my time." Defended Syd. "I gotta find someone who's just as me oriented as I am." The girls laughed. "So what about you and Sky?" Syd pressed. "I saw the way he was looking at you."

"You mean before or after he fled the room?"

"Before. And as for after, he just needs some time." Syd assured.

Dani wasn't so sure.

Sky became aware that his audience continued to grow and soon could no longer take the feeling of all those eyes upon him. He retreated to the locker room for a shower and change before it was time for his patrol.

_Thank you to everyone for your reviews and support of this and all my other stories! Please visit my profile for an update as to why there hasn't been anything for awhile…Also I've been reading back over this whole story and I'm not entirely sure I like it as much as the others….please review and tell me what you think. Good/bad/otherwise….i've been thinking that maybe I'll go through and just re-write everything…hmmm…let me know._


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: Do you ever wonder if some higher ups ever peruse the Fan Fic sites and steal OUR ideas? Huh? ….yeah ….think about that! And where is THEIR disclaimer? WHERE? No where! But because they have more money to sue me then I have to sue them- I solemnly swear that I do not own the Power Rangers or any other creative property that I may subsequently refer to in my mindless ramblings masquerading as a story._

Chapter 8

Shortly after the leaving the gym the girls took their leave of the tour group. They had booked simulator time and couldn't be late again. Bridge and Dani took their time strolling around the SPD grounds. Bridge had run out of facts and they now walked in what he believed to be uncomfortable silence. He hated uncomfortable silence.

"So what made you want to become a ranger?" he asked

Dani considered the question carefully

"My father was a…"she stopped just short of saying ranger"…a cop, it seemed to me there was no better thing to be. And then when my powers manifested themselves I realized there really was no other option then to join SPD. I was built to be the best undercover agent ever. What about you? Why did Bridge Carson join SPD?"

"You know I'm not really sure, maybe it was the chance to work with such cool machines, you know me and Boom completely reprogrammed and rebuilt RIC not so long ago? Or maybe it was the chance to help people with my power. I can track down evil like no other. Or maybe it was for the cool uniforms. Green was good but I think I like blue too. Hey that rhymed!"

"You were the Green Ranger before me?"

"Yeah but when Jack left I got promoted to Blue and now you're the Green Ranger and your last name is Green how weird. It's like it was meant to be or something."

"Who was Blue?" Although Dani was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Well it was Sky, ha, talk about coincidences Sky…blue….I wonder why I never noticed before. I bet he got it a lot though. Maybe it was the reason why he always seemed like he had such a huge stick up his butt."

Dani laughed at the thought. Bridge was excited to hear it. All through the tour the more relaxed Officer Green became the more he felt the sadness become overshadowed.

"We used to be roommates you know, his side of the room was always perfect. Perfect bed, perfect closet, perfect uniform, perfect hair."

Bridge had found an audience in Danielle; she couldn't stop laughing. So in his best Sky impression he continued-

"Carson, iron your uniform! Carson, stop standing on your head all the time! Carson, don't be so weird! Is that toast I smell, Cadet Carson? You know that section 5 page 237 rule 36c of the SPD handbook states that no Cadet shall be permitted to prepare food in the dorm rooms!"

Dani was doubled over with laughter now.

"Is he really like that?" she asked between gulps of air.

"Well he used to be," Bridge conceded, "Not as much anymore, Sky's really learned to loosen up and be part of the team. Actually Sky's always been a very caring person he just hates to show it, he thinks it's a weakness. Most of the time you'd think that his power was putting up walls. Maybe that's why Kruger made us roommates, not so much emotion permeating the air. But he's like a big brother to me. In fact, out of all people, Sky was the first to accept my power. He's always looked out for me."

Dani took in all the information about her new leader. _If he would accept Bridge, then why won't he accept me?_

_Again thankyou (especially princessmoonshadow!) reviews people REVIEWS! Otherwise I'm not sure I can go on writing…_


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: Like a broken record (which most of us are too young to remember) so how bout – Like a scratched CD - I don't own the Power Ranger's. But if I did I would be making BANK! (Shows, movies, toys, books, clothes, shoes….) _

Chapter 9

The pair of rangers made their way back into Delta Command, it was starting to approach nightfall and Dani hadn't even had a chance to unpack.

"Here we are! The final stop on our tour! Your room! Please be sure to tip your waitress and thank you for choosing Carson tour guides for all your sightseeing needs."

Dani was relived to finally be at the end. The high heeled boots that were part of the woman's dress uniform had slowly been cutting off the flow of blood to her feet all day.

"Hey Danielle I've been wanting to ask all day..." Bridge looked slightly embarrassed by the question he was about to ask. "Can you turn into me? I've always wondered what I looked like, you know to everyone else."

"Are you sure?" she asked, "Some people get a little freaked out looking at themselves."

Bridge nodded eagerly. So with his consent, Dani Green melted away into Bridge Carson. There they stood in the hallway two Bridges looking at each other.

"How's that?" She asked in his voice.

"It's like a mirror but not." He gave his hand an experimental wave and just for fun Dani/Bridge waved back

"So your exactly like me? I mean everywhere?" His gaze traveled downward.

"Yes I'm exactly like you…everywhere" His voice replied; and for the first time that day the Blue Ranger was at a loss for words.

Just then the Yellow and Pink rangers caught back up with them.

"Wow… twice the Bridge for your viewing pleasure," remarked Syd. It earned her a quick jab in the ribs from Z.

"So which is which?" asked Z a bit apprehensively.

"He is" replied Dani as she was shifting back. For a moment her voice took on an odd quality as her body hovered between genders. "Bridge wanted to know how you guys saw him."

"Yeah… and why didn't you tell me my hair was so messy?" Asked the real Bridge

"Because the 'just rolled out of bed' look works for you." Answered Z playfully.

"Just rolled out of whose bed?" whispered Syd wickedly, which earned her another jab to the ribs, only a little harder. Dani had to stifle a laugh.

" ANYWAY," said Z loud enough to draw attention away from Syd, who was busy rubbing her side," Dani, Commander Kruger said he would like to see you in his office before you turn in for the night."

The idea Dani had of ditching the high heels and laying down quickly evaporated from her near future,

"That means now doesn't it?" She asked pathetically

"Pretty much…yeah." Replied Z with sympathy.

"But these boots are killing me!" Dani whined

"But they make your legs look great! There is no price to high to pay for fashion," Syd recited.

Z rolled her eyes, and Dani agreed. Give her a sturdy pair of combat boots and a comfortable pair of pants and she was happy.

Just then Officer Tate came walking down the hall, not looking too happy about anything.

"Well that looks like me cue to leave." Announced Dani. "I'll see you all later."

She started for Commander Kruger's office passing by Sky. He continued looking strait ahead as he walked without acknowledging her.

"I need to talk to all of you." Was all he said to his team as he passed them on his way to the common room. The three rangers all looked at each other, shrugged and rushed to catch up with steady pace of their leader.

It was near lights out, so the room was mostly empty. All it took was a few steely glares from the Red Ranger to make everyone in the room suddenly have somewhere else, very important to be. When the other rangers arrived Sky wasted no time.

"I need to know how you all feel about Officer Green."

"What do you mean?" asked Bridge

"You know what I mean."

Sky became frustrated with his old roommate. Bridge was always too trusting.

"Well I feel like you running out of the room this morning was pretty shitty." Z stood with her arms crossed glaring at him. "It seems like you also managed to avoid her all day too. Way to make a person feel welcome Tate. Curiously what bothered you more," she asked accusingly," the fact that she's a shape shifter or a woman?"

"I don't think I need to explain myself to you Delgado."

"Do you plan on explaining yourself to her then maybe? Because I think maybe she deserves to know why her new team captain wont look her in the eye."

"If those are her real eyes." He mumbled

"What did you say!" She advanced on Sky, blood running hot.

Sydney rushed between her two friends before blood was shed.

"Stop it now, both of you!"

Z stalled. She had never herd the Pink Ranger more forceful or serious.

"Now I want us all to be civil to each other, and no injuring one another, you understand?" She pointed a perfectly manicured finger at the both of them in turn.

Z stared down the six-foot Red Ranger from her point in the room.

"Don't you remember what it was like when people found out about you?" she questioned

"That's why I never let them find out." Retorted Sky. "I knew when it was beneficial to keep certain things to myself."

"You mean you just keep everything to yourself right?"

Sky's famous temper was barely holding against the Yellow Ranger's onslaught.

"I mean that if you don't stand down you'll be pulling night shift for a month." He threatened

"Oh so now we're pulling rank are we? Look at big bad Sky" she mocked, "He's going to make me pull night shift because I don't agree with him. Great leadership skills Officer Tate." She spat out the last words.

Bridge sat in a chair to the left of his arguing teammates, clutching a pillow to his chest and rocking softly. All the anger in the room was starting to get to him. He hadn't seen Sky this mad since he had been passed up for Red Ranger. But even then he had kept most of it bottled up in typical Sky fashion. What was transpiring now was like a volcano lying dormant for years finally blowing it's top.

"If you think you're so great why don't you be the Red Ranger? Or would you prefer your precious Jack again? Would that be better? Should we just go find some thief off the street and make them the leader?" Somewhere in Sky's brain a voice was telling him he'd gone too far

"How dare you!" she screamed. Z's eyes glowed hot and out of nowhere three of her descended upon Sky knocking him to the ground. He barely had time to erect a shield before the first punch was thrown. The replicates beat furiously at the wall Sky had created but it was useless. Sky's shield wasn't budging and Z could only make so many replicates before she spread herself too thin.

By this time Bridge had begun to rock harder in his seat, eyes closed, reciting all the things that made him happy

"Toast, Hanukah, puppy dogs, new computer parts, ice cream, kittens, balloons…"

Syd was the only one who noticed the Blue Ranger mumbling to himself. He was getting closer to the edge of his sanity. Pretty soon the damn would break and who knew what might come flooding out. She rushed over to him wrapping her arms around his quaking figure and trying to think as many calming thoughts as possible. She turned to Sky and Z and shouted.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you see what you're doing to Bridge?"

The Red and Yellow Rangers paused in a strange tableaux of action. He was lying on the floor covered in his shield while three of her stood above him frozen in mid pummel.

The replicates and the shield disappeared as the two called a silent truce and hurried to their friend's side.

"Bridge are you okay?" Z asked, her face now consumed with worry.

Officer Carson shook his head fitfully and looked at Sky.

"I thought you had changed." He said quietly. Bridge stared into the deep blue of his eyes searching for the Sky he knew. The Red Ranger couldn't take the hurt and disappointment he saw in the face of his former roommate.

"I think we should go now." Z took Bridge by the arm and led him out of the room. Sky remained standing by the empty chair unable to lift his head as they departed. After a few moments of silence his only remaining teammate finally spoke.

"Smooth move Tate." Said Syd shortly

Sky gave up and collapsed into the chair.

"Where did it all go wrong Syd?" he looked at her pleadingly "Everything was great. We were all friends, I finally got to be the Red Ranger, and then Kruger had to pick her!" His head fell into his hands as he ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I don't know what to do anymore. How do I be a leader to someone I can't trust?" The Pink Ranger took up perch on the arm of his chair and laid her hand on his back in sympathy. Whatever the others thought at this moment was wrong. Schuyler Tate hade changed. The fact that he was opening up to her right now was huge progress from where he had been a year ago.

"You could start by trusting Kruger. He wouldn't have chosen her if he thought she was a danger to the rest of us. After that ask yourself, why don't you trust her?" She patted his shoulder as she got up. "And then you could finish by trusting yourself." With that Syd made her way to the door.

"We're all booked for simulator training at 8am tomorrow morning. I need to see what Officer Green is capable of, and we need to start relearning our team attack patterns."

Syd nodded. She would pass along the information considering no one else was going to be speaking to him.

"Hey Syd?" Sky raised his head from his hands, "Can you tell Z I'm sorry?"

Officer Drew stopped briefly in the doorway and shook her head

"No, that's something she needs to hear from you."

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Reviews, Reviews, Reviews! Please? ( big puppy-dog look) For some reason I'm more insecure about this story than I am my other ones, but you all seem to love my other ones so …I dunno. I even want the bad ones! You don't like it? TELL ME! You think my writing isn't as strong in this as it is my other stories? Let me know! You have an idea on how this should all pan out? I wanna here it! Okay I'll stop begging now…

reviews?

please?

(bats eyelashes)


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: you know about 3 chapters ago I realized that I probably only needed this on the first chapter and I should be golden. But then I realized that maybe I kinda liked writing the disclaimer because it gave my mind a small break from writing the story. So despite the fact that redundancy is not usually our friend I repeat that I do not own the Power Rangers I'm just barrowing them for a while._

Chapter 10

Danielle arrived at Kruger's office and before she had a chance to knock she heard his gruff voice

"Come in."

_He probably smelled me down the hall_, she thought remembering her experience from this morning.

"You wanted to see me commander?"

"Yes, please sit down. Make yourself comfortable." He gestured to one of the hard plastic chairs in front of his desk. It was a well-known fact that no chair in an office, of anyone, anywhere, was comfortable, except maybe their own. Dani tried her best.

"I wanted to give you the last piece of your issued equipment personally."

Kruger handed Dani a small silver box. She opened the two latches and eased the top up knowing what was inside but no less excited about it. Carefully nestled inside was her morpher. It was a small rectangular device, red and black with SPD etched across the front. Dani gingerly picked up the morpher relishing the feel of it in her hands, turning it over, fingers tracing the lines and buttons.

"This is your power morpher, it also acts as your communicator and will perform judgment and confinement. Never let it out of your sight and keep it on you at all times. Your Ranger powers will supercede your genetic ones so remember that you will not be able to use them until you've powered down. However," he gave a small smirk, "I doubt you'll find your Ranger power lacking."

Dani silently nodded her head at all Kruger had to say. She was so distracted by the device in her hands. This is what she had wanted for so long. To be just like her father. Even without morphing she could feel the power radiating from it.

"Now I'll let you go and get some sleep, you've probably had a long and eventful day. And as I understand it Officer Tate has booked quiet the group session in the simulator rooms."

Dani made a small face at the sound of Sky's name. Kruger noticed.

"Officer Tate is a fine ranger who has proven himself to be a superb leader and loyal friend to the other rangers." He vindicated. "His only downfall would be his pride. His father was also a Red Ranger who was, unfortunately killed in the line of action when Sky was young. I think that given the chance you two might find that you have more in common than you think."

Dani doubted it. "He doesn't trust me."

"Well you know Danielle, trust usually has to be earned. Sky has his reasons for being distrustful of shape shifters. You just need to show him that people are different and that your power does not define you."

Officer Green rose from her seat and saluted her commanding officer and then she headed for the door

"Don't let others make you doubt yourself," he called out to her. "I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't think you were the best person for the job."

Danielle smiled to herself as she made her way back to her room hands still clasping her morpher to her chest. _Kruger's right I am the best person for the job. I was born to be a ranger, and if Officer Tate can't see past my genetic abilities then I'm just going to have to open his eyes and his mind to the possibilities._

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A servant made his way down the long dark corridor to his master's room. Meekly he pushed the door open and stood before his master with head down.

"Master, she has returned to Earth."

A figure raised his head from the screen in front of him and regarded his servant with mild annoyance.

"Would you like me to send them to get her sir?"

"No. She's at SPD. Right where I wanted her to end up, an attack there would be foolish. Let them put her through the steps. We'll see just what she's capable of, if her power has grown. I've waited this long there is no need to rush now."

"Yes sir." The servant bowed his head even lower while backing out of the room as un-noticed as possible. The master returned his attention back to the screen's display. She had done well in her time at the academy_. She will prove even more useful this time around_ he figured.

_Soon it will be time _he smiled maliciously _to go and visit an old friend._

_Thank you guys for the love! YOU LOVE ME!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I just wanted to warn all of you that the more I write the more I realize that I'm in this for the long haul. I would expect that by the time I'm done with this you could print the pages out and end up with an empty ink cartridge and a mighty stack of paper. That being said I hope you all stick around for the end whenever it may be I promise it will be good. Oh yeah and I don't own the Power Rangers. Oh! You know what? I don't own Blue October either….although Justin Furstenfeld would definitely be a good second runner up to Sky. Only because to my knowledge Sky can't sing. If you haven't checked out their new album yet you should! (No I did not get paid to say that.)_

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Chapter 11

Dani opened the door to her room and stepped in.

"Lights on." She absorbed in her new surroundings. The whole room was decorated in the same shade of green as her uniform. There was a bed to her right precisely made with a green comforter and a few green pillows. Next to the bed was a small nightstand with a lamp and alarm clock. On the other side of the room was a desk with the newest computer model. All along the walls were shelves for personal effects and in the middle of the room was the three boxes of the stuff she brought with her from Nova.

Dani sat down on her bed still cradling her morpher. Carefully setting it on the nightstand she removed the demonic heels and let her feet regain feeling before beginning to unpack. She actually didn't have much. A few civilian outfits her stereo and her massive collection of music. She set up her system and selected her favorite band from 2006, Blue October. The few friends she had always gave her a hard time about her love for what was now considered oldies. Dani didn't care, music was the soundtrack to life, and it didn't matter when it was made. She cranked up the tunes, despite it being lights out, and returned to her unpacking.

The closet was already mostly full of SPD officer uniforms, the only difference from her cadet uniform being the bright slash of color. The drawers contained various items of clothing…t-shirts, socks, tank tops, shorts and track pants all sporting the SPD logo, and in the same shades of green. _Wow when you become a ranger they sure like you to embrace your color. I guess it's a good thing I like green. _Dani fondly remembered when she was little going through her dad's wardrobe. She realized that if you looked you could actually see her father's ranger progressions in his closet. It started with lots of green like her closet now and then went to white and then red and then black. However after that was like a rainbow of color, brown's, blue's, yellow's, even purple. She asked him once why, and his answer was that he enjoyed having the variety.

"_What if we could_

_Put our lives on _

_Hold and meet some_

_Where inside of the world_

_I would meet you _

_Would you meet me?"_

Dani sang aloud with the rock song, placing her posters and pictures along the walls, oblivious to the pounding coming from the neighboring wall.

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Sky was attempting to focus. He was tired, sore, and emotionally exhausted. The fight with the others had taken its toll on his normally stable state of mind._ Why are they so easy to trust others?_ _Why can't I? _His muscles had been complaining most of the evening from the extensive workout he had endured, although he couldn't blame anyone else for that. However he could blame the new ranger for playing her music devastatingly loud. _She should know its lights out. No music is to be played except on personal headphones after lights out. _He mentally quoted the handbook and gave the wall a few more good pounds.

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It was only due to the break in songs that Dani heard the pounding on her wall next to her bed. She looked at the clock and realized the time. _Oh damn. I should turn it down. _She raced over to her player and cranked down the volume before the next song came blaring to life. _I should go over and apologize. No sense in making any more enemies my first day._ She thought of the awkwardness that hung between her and Officer Tate._ It's not like he's a bad person, _she pondered. _I've seen lots of people react to me the way he did. So why does it bother me so much that it was him that got freaked out? Because, he's the Red Ranger, the leader._ She answered herself._ He's the one you need to trust you._ Dani quickly changed into a pair of the green shorts and SPD t-shirt, and plodded barefoot over to her new neighbor.

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Sky sighed happily when the music stopped. Now he could get back to studying Officer Green's file. The commander was right she really was the best. She specialized in undercover and surveillance training, much like Syd, but her strongest area was in infiltration. Sky shifted uneasily in his chair, the thought of her power was still making him uncomfortable. The odd thing about her file was that there was no parents listed, not as unknown, not as deceased. Just blank. His concentration was broken by a knock at the door._ I hope its Bridge; I need to check on him and make sure he's okay._

"Come in." He called out.

He looked up and tensed to find the wrong Green Ranger standing in the hallway of his room._ But then again Bridge isn't green anymore_ he reminded himself_. She is_.

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Dani was dismayed to find that Sky was the one she shared the wall with. She had been hoping for one of the other girls, or even Bridge, just not Sky. That was a development she didn't need tonight. He looked at her with an expression of slight shock; obviously he had not been expecting her either. His face quickly took on a stern emotion.

"You should know that SPD handbook states that no cadet will play music on external speakers after the time of lights out." Bridge was wrong the stick was still there.

"uh yeah …I was just coming over to apologize. It's been a long day and well…I like my music loud…sorry." She finished lamely, making a mental note to invest in headphones.

Sky drank in the sight of her standing there in his room wearing nothing but a pair of short's that came well above the knee and a tight green t-shirt that hugged to her body as though it was molded on her. She had pulled her dark brown hair up into a ponytail that dangled playfully down her back. She was barefoot and Sky noticed that she had her toenails painted, not pink or red, but an electric shade of blue. He found this ridiculously sexy. Her brilliant green eyes searched him as well.

The Red Ranger was sitting at his desk with a folder open in front of him. Dani recognized it as her file. He looked as casual as she was sure he got in his uniform pants and a red SPD t–shirt. His uniform jacket carefully placed on a hanger, hung on the back of his chair. He had eyes of blue that you could drown in, and she was sure that when he was the Blue Ranger the color of his uniform had made his eyes stand out even more. His face was constructed of slightly sharp angles, his nose straight and perfect, until you got to his lips. Despite the slight scowl they were still round and full. Dani caught herself wondering if they were soft as well.

A moment of awkward silence passed between them. This time it was Sky who cleared the air first.

"Was there anything else Officer Green?" He had a way of making it sound so condescending.

"Uh…no..." she stumbled. The momentary warm, soft, feelings about him disappearing.

"Then I suggest you go to bed, we have a training session at 0800 tomorrow morning and I don't stand for tardiness. You're in B squad now and here at Delta Command we are the best." He tore his gaze away from her back to his desk.

Dani nodded her head. _If this is the way it's going to be…._and curtly returned to her room

Sky's tensed body relaxed as soon as he heard the door close behind her. _God how does she do that to me! I don't think my body can take any more gym time today. _So he headed for the next best thing …a cold shower.

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_Like it? Love it? Hate it? Well you know what to do! (psssst! I t involves that little purple button down in the corner.) And as always many thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story so far! You are all very buttery! (finger wiggle)_


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: Well despite many clandestine efforts I still do not own the Power Rangers. Hell I can't even manage to check out the DVD's from the library. My holds keep getting screwed up and then they're checked out to some little kid who wants to watch it for the cool monsters and what not…..What about my needs? I need them for important...uhh...research! Yes that's right! Research! And before you ask…I'm flat broke that's why I don't own them. I'm so poor my bologna doesn't HAVE a first name!_

Chapter 12

The early morning air was brisk and slightly damp. Dani had her new track pants and green SPD jacket on as protection from the cold, but had turned down the new shoes in favor of her old worn sneakers. She sat on the cold ground of the running track and stretched her muscles, then inserted the small headphones into her ears, turned on the music, and ran.

She started out at a slow pace her personal soundtrack perfectly timed. As the music got faster so did she. Somewhere around her third lap she noticed another figure on the half-mile track. All she needed to see was the red and she knew who her company was. _I should have figured him for an early riser._ Dani broke time with her music in order to stay well ahead of the Red Ranger. She had come out here to get away from him. The faster she ran the more he seemed to be catching up. _Damn…_she glanced at her watch. _I still have 30 min to go._ She glanced over her shoulder. He was close enough for her to see the scowl that now seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face._ If I left now I would be cutting my run short just to avoid him._ She could hear his footsteps fall rhythmically behind her._ Screw that I was here first!_ Dani stepped up her pace even more.

The faster she ran the more he seemed to be catching up. As they came around the bend Sky took the inside turn and passed her by without even a hint of notice. _Okay I can play that way _Dani thought to herself. Pushing herself against his naturally longer stride Officer Green came up behind the Red Ranger and with a quick side step came around and cut him off. The game of cat and mouse continued past her routine run time, neither one wanting to give in to the other. After lagging behind for the last five minutes Dani finally decided to end it on her terms. Digging in she burst forward past Sky and before he could overtake her she glanced over her shoulder, smiled and waved as she veered off the track and back into the base.

Once inside Dani continued to run down the corridors and into her room. Thanks to Sky her run had cut into her shower time and if she didn't hurry she was going to be late for training._ But then again he's still out there… If I try I can get to the simulator rooms before he does. _The thought of beating Schuyler Tate at his own game was motivation enough. As fast as she could the Green Ranger hopped in the shower and rinsed away the sweat, barely giving herself time to dry she threw her hair, still wet, up into a bun and hurriedly pulled on a uniform. Dashing out the door she was surprised to find the Red Ranger passing by her room, fully dressed in uniform. _How the hell did he beat me? He was still on the track not five minutes ago! _While Dani stood dumbfounded, Sky smirked at her as he passed.

"Zip up that jacket Officer Green." Dani looked down and saw that in her haste she hadn't put on anything underneath her uniform jacket and was now standing in the hallway with her jacket open and her green lacy bra with little yellow daisies exposed to the entire academy. Turning bright red she clutched at her jacket and fumbled with the zipper. A few of the male cadets whistled in appreciation for the show.

Sky continued on his way to the simulator room without looking back. It was going against everything his gut was telling him. When the first catcall rang he felt his temperature rise, he wanted to find the cadet who made it and beat him senseless. _But why?_ Instead he turned the corner and rushed to the training session, she may have beat him on the track but he was dammed if he was going to let her beat him here. He had even passed up his shower just to make sure he got there first._ Let's just hope no one notices._

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Thank you so much to everyone who has been reviewing! You guys rock hardcore! However I have a bit of an admission to make. When I first started to post this story I actually had already written up to chapter 11 (that's right I had all that done before I even started posting!) I've just been spacing out the posting of the chapters to give myself more time to write everything else. Unfortuently I was hit by a wall of writers block (which is where you've been getting all of my one shots.) So this is actually the first of the (slightly) newer chapters…I promise now that I've actually caught my postings up with my writing I will try my hardest not to let this story fall into the abyss! So yeah…btw anyone know where I can get the SPD episodes not released on dvd?


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer- The Power Rangers has become a long-standing institution in children's programming; those that do own them should consider themselves lucky. I'm not very lucky._

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_A/N I really hope that my inability to write action sequences as well as I write comedy is not held against me. _

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Chapter 13

The Rangers waited in the simulator room for Dani to arrive. An uncomfortable silence permeated the air. The Yellow and Red rangers were carefully avoiding one another's gaze while the Pink and Blue rangers sat off in the corner trying to keep themselves as far away from the negative emotions as possible. Bridge's head was slumped over Syd's shoulder. He hadn't slept well. After the fight the colors of the whole team were off and it had kept Bridge awake most of the night. When they were roommates Bridge had learned to deal with Sky's occasional temper tantrums but what had come out of him last night was something entirely different. The notorious Tate temper was there, yes, but it was what lied underneath that had the Blue Ranger so perplexed. From what Bridge could clearly read off Sky right now (without even taking off his gloves) was that his best friend was just as confused.

The quiet was finally broken when Officer Green came bursting into the room out of breath and looking a bit flustered. She was still trying to zip up her uniform, but Sky noticed that she now wore a green SPD t-shirt underneath. From the red in her cheeks she must have run back into her room for the extra coverage and then run top speed all the way here. Not wanting to waste time, Sky did not wait for her to regain composure.

"Officer Green I thought I told you not to be late." He snapped.

If looks could kill Sky Tate would have spontaneously combusted where he stood. For a moment he swore he saw her eyes turn from green too red. Instead of answering with one of her usual smart ass remarks Dani held her tongue. This was not the way to start your first day with a new team. It was also not the way to diffuse the tension between you and your squad leader. Instead she simply nodded her head.

"Sorry, it wont happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Sky could feel the holes being burned into the back of his head when he turned from her to face the other rangers, none of which looked too happy with him either. Sky ignored the dirty looks and got started with the training.

"First thing today I want to see Officer Green run a few solo exercises, after that we'll begin relearning the team attack patterns." He walked through the door into the observation room beckoning the other rangers. Before leaving Z grabbed Dani's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Sky wont let you off easy," She whispered, "Good luck."

Dani nodded and smiled, "If he wants to play rough, let him. I like it rough_."_

She took a fighting stance as the walls shimmered away and she found herself in an abandon warehouse. Drawing her weapon she moved quietly through the mess of empty crates waiting for the impending attack. She didn't have to wait long. The shot came from the left and just barely missed her head as she tucked down into a roll coming up to return fire. The next shot came from behind. Another roll to the side and Dani jumped up and onto a crate firing down at her assailant, quickly she came down from her perch not wanting to make a more obvious target. A few more shots, a few more targets decimated.

"Maybe we should make her the Red Ranger." Z offered, not willing to let the previous nights events go. Sky did his best to ignore the insubordinate comment. Instead focusing on the simulation training in front of him. Officer Green heard Sky's voice from behind the illusion

"I want you to holster your weapon, the next exercise is hand to hand combat."

Dani nodded and moved to put her weapon away when it was knocked from her hands. The next kick landed square in the chest and laid her out on the floor with only seconds to react before a metal foot made contact with her head. She recognized her attacker as a Krybot. Grabbing the robotic foot she swung her legs up and caught the robot around the waist dragging it down to join her on the floor. Jumping up she brought down all her force stomping on the Krybots chest and putting it out of commission, and that's when she noticed the others. Officer Green was surrounded by at least 30 Krybots all holding position in a circle around her.

"Sky do you really think that's necessary?" Z shot him a dagger filled look.

"Yeah even for you that's a bit much." Bridge looked worriedly at Dani through the hologram and back at his friend. "It's her first day don't you think you should take it a bit easier on her?" The Red Ranger said nothing, only staring straight forward to watch the new ranger's reaction to the overwhelming odds.

Dani paced in a circle waiting for the first move from the Krybots. She knew what he was trying to do and she had no intentions of letting him get away with it. The anticipation had her fingers twitching right above her morpher, but suddenly she had a better idea. After a few seconds of standoff, the Krybots all rushed her at once and she smiled right before she disappeared into the crowd.

"Where did she go?!" The Pink Ranger was worried. They had all come at her so fast and there was so many of them and now you couldn't see Dani at all.

"Sky I think there's something wrong, you should stop the simulation, I don't see her in there anywhere." The Blue Ranger was now nervously fiddling with the Velcro on his gloves. Bridge was right. Dani was nowhere to be found in the throng of robots. As the seconds ticked by, Sky became more worried that maybe he had overdone it. He reached for the remote to end the simulation but before he could Z stopped him.

"You guys look!" She pointed excitedly at the confusion that was taking place inside the hologram. Krybots were falling over almost of their own accord. An unseen attacker moved through the ranks quietly taking out one after another. The Krybots had actually started attacking one another in an attempt to find the perpetrator. Soon only one Krybot remained standing and in an uncharacteristic gesture began to dust itself off.

With a voice that no Krybot had, it asked, "Is that all you've got?"

The mechanics melted away to reveal Dani standing there among the ruins of the robots, a large grin on her face.

"Oh wow! Did you see that?!" Z exclaimed. She ran through the illusion towards Dani. The other rangers followed.

"That was amazing! You took on 35 Krybots all by yourself!" Syd joined in the celebration

"Yeah the academy record was 32." Bridge chimed in.

"Let me guess who held that." Dani muttered under her breath watching the ever-irate Red Ranger make his way to her and the others.

"Does that scowl ever leave his face?" She whispered to the Pink Ranger.

"Not recently." She answered. The two girls hurriedly hushed when Officer Tate came within earshot.

"Nice work." The words pushed their way through clenched teeth as though it pained him to pay her a compliment.

"A new academy record I heard." Dani tried her best not to gloat much, but she couldn't help the smile of satisfaction making it's way across her face. It always felt good to put a pompous ass in his place.

"Curious though, why didn't you morph against such odds?" Sky asked.

"Ranger code 1B section A - a ranger will not use his or her power to escalate a confrontation instead using their power to diffuse the situation using as little force as possible." Dani recited. " I saw no need to morph, knowing that I could use my genetic power to take care of the Krybots, therefore eliminating the need to use my ranger power and ending the confrontation." The smirk could not be hidden as she watched the smoke nearly pour out of the Red Rangers ears. Kruger had told her to show him that your power did not define you; instead she decided to show him that it was you who defined how your power would be used. Before Sky could react the alarm sounded

"Rangers to the command center."

Z took a deep breath and looked at Dani. "This is it. You ready?" Dani simply nodded her head before joining the others in the mad dash to the command center.

Again with the thank you's! And another small admission this is the last chapter that I actually have written. I know I know I suck! But I'll try really hard I promise, not to let it be over a month before I post again (really I'm trying for more like a week.)Right now I'm having a hard time coming up with a disposable bad-guy and I got side tracked (yet again) by the Halloween theme challenge. So as soon as I finish that I'll focus solely on this one, really, I will…why don't any of you believe me!?


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer- hmmm I just might be giving up on this whole disclaimer thing. Maybe I'll take a cue from MzDany and just put a general disclaimer on my profile. Obviously I don't own the power rangers. Or do I…? For all you know I'm the head of Disney who in her spare time enjoys writing the stories they refuse to let her air… Yeah that's right because when you're that rich your no longer crazy your eccentric! _

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_A/N Sorry it's taken me so long to get this out. Writers block is a royal pain in the ass. Have you ever known exactly where you wanted a story to go you just a hard time getting there? Yeah that's this. I also think this is the first chapter with the revised spelling of Cruger…._

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Chapter 14

"Rangers, There's reports of a disturbance on the outer edge of town…" Commander Cruger began

"More strays commander?" Officer Tate asked.

"No. Theses are not more of Gruumm's stray lackeys." Cruger turned the floor over to Dr. Kat Manx.

"Theses are an enemy we have not encountered before." The rangers turned their attention to the viewing screen. On the display they saw grotesque creatures lizard like in shape with giant claws on each hand and a short tail lined with spikes protruding out behind them. Their eyes searched in all directions independently from each other while they caused what seemed to be random destruction.

Kat's fingers moved gracefully over the keyboards in front of her.

"I have nothing in the database that matches their description."

"Right now I don't care." Cruger growled. "They're destroying public property."

Sky took this as his cue.

"Let's go." He turned to his team who nodded in response and made their way quickly to the garage.

"You'll probably get my old bike." Bridge commented to Dani as they ran down the corridors. "Do you know how to ride?"

"Yeah I …"

"She'll be riding with Syd and Z in the Jeep." Sky tossed over his shoulder.

"But Sky shouldn't she get the Green Rangers cycle?" Bridge stared questioningly at his leaders back.

"I said she rides with Syd and Z." Sky didn't even bother with looking at Bridge, the Blue Ranger could tell from the tone of his voice that his decision was final.

Once the Rangers reached New Tech's warehouse district it didn't take them long to find the new menace engaged in wonton destruction of the facilities.

"SPD Freeze!" the Red Ranger yelled as he dismounted from his bike. The creatures merely glanced in his direction with one eye without stopping.

"I said FREEZE!" Sky fired a warning shot from his blaster that landed between two of the ten or so monsters. If all else it got their attention.

"Sky, maybe that wasn't the greatest of all ideas." Bridge muttered assuming the attack position.

The monsters turned in unison, all eyes focused on the five humans in front of them. With a feral cry they charged towards the waiting rangers. Sky stepped in front of his team waving his arm in a circle and throwing up a large field between him and the monsters. When the creatures hit the field at full speed they were thrown back from the energy and hit the ground ten feet away, where they promptly disappeared.

"What the…?" Sky didn't have time to register what had just happened before three more of the creatures descended upon him seemingly out of nowhere. All around him his team was engaged in battle with what he knew had to be more creatures then there was when they got there. Blocking one large clawed hand he ducked just in time to keep his head intact. Coming back up he rammed his elbow into what he guessed would pass for the creatures nose or snout and then rounded his arm under to land a punch into the others gut. Turning, his leg shot out and caught another one in the head knocking it to the ground where it too disappeared. Sky stared at the empty space that shouldn't be trying to put it all together.

"Bridge!" He called over to his former roommate. "I need to know what these things are!"

The Blue Ranger was unable to respond, currently being engaged with two more of the unknown foe. Quickly Sky ran towards the Blue Ranger pulling off the attackers. Keeping then at bay Sky asked again for Bridges assistance. Pulling off one glove Bridge waved his hand over the battlefield and saw something he wouldn't have thought possible.

"They're not real!" He blinked disbelieving at his friends auras that were seemingly fighting nothing. Z took a rough kick to the chest and was sent stumbling backwards eventually falling at the Blue Rangers feet. Looking up from the ground her angry brown eyes met his.

"Bridge I think they are most definitely real." She snarled. Reaching down he helped to lift her off the pavement before correcting his earlier statement.

"Okay so they're real just not really real more like kinda real but mostly not."

"Bridge!"

"Sorry, They're real as in they're here and yes they can hurt you but they're not real as in they don't have actual physical bodies they're made entirely of psychic energy."

"Is that why when I hit them over the head they disappear?" Sky questioned while testing his theory on the monster currently attempting to eviscerate him. Sure enough when knocked unconscious the monster disappeared leaving no evidence in its place.

"Good to know."

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The Rangers continued their battle un-aware that one of their own had become far separated from the group. Running hard Dani raced to keep up with the creature that had made a break for the warehouse. Following it in and around Dani caught up to it standing in a corner as though waiting for her. Hesitantly and out of breath she approached the monster.

"I've got you cornered." Mentally she berated herself for pointing out the obvious. Assuming the attack position she waited for that which did not come. Instead the creature opened its mouth and though it did not seem to have the ability to speak a voice was projected from the unmoving jaws.

"Ahh Danielle. So nice to see you again."

"Who are you?" Dani took a more defense stance against the unmoving foe.

"I'm upset you don't remember me. Really after all the time we spent together? I even modeled the creatures your new friends are up against after you."

Dani cocked her head to one side unsure of what to think, what was he talking about? The hideous creature before her was…her?

"You really don't remember me do you?" The benign voice continued with a hint of amusement in its voice.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, and frankly I'm done talking. You're coming with me now." Danielle made a move towards the monster who easily sidestepped her advance and went on.

"I'm hurt Danielle. Its important that we remember our pasts…it's what makes us who we are, defines us, and dictates what we will become."

Dani could no longer stop the fear that was seeping into her mind. What was this…thing talking about? How did it know her? And what did it know that she obviously didn't?

"No matter. Whatever they buried I can uncover. I will make you remember." With that said the creature finally made a move towards her. Wrapping clawed hands around her head the monster pulled her in, pressing his forehead against hers.

An onslaught of images invaded Danielle's mind, flashing before her eyes. The nausea they created couldn't be suppressed. Using all of the strength she had left she pulled away only to turn, fall to her knees, and wretch all over the warehouse floor.

"You will remember me. And when you do I'll be back for what's mine" The sinister voice faded and when Dani finally turned around she found that the creature had also disappeared. Another wave of nausea rolled through her system as the images the monster had given her began to replay in her mind. Outside she could hear the other ranger's voices calling for her. Silently she sat willing the queasiness to pass while doing her best to push these new memories to the back of her mind. They couldn't find her like this. How would it look for the Green Ranger, on her first mission, to be discovered kneeling on the floor in front of a puddle of her own vomit? Determination raised her off the floor and had her running to meet her teammates before they could see the mess she had made, and hopefully before they could smell it.

"Officer Green." She heard Sky's voice as she came out of the warehouse. "What were you doing so far away from the battle?" Danielle was greeted by raised eyebrows and arms crossed over a haughty chest.

"I followed one of the monsters in here…" She caught herself from calling him sir. The way he stared at her and the demeaning tone he used reminded her of her drill instructor at Nova so much so that she had to remember that though he was the Red Ranger they both shared the rank of officer.

"And…?" His eyebrow reached an impossible height.

"And what?" The Green Rangers patience with the way Sky was…well Sky, was causing her temper to flare.

"And why didn't you answer your communicator when we called?" The Red Ranger glared down from his towering height, but his question doused her anger. They had called her on the communicator? She hadn't heard it. Now what? Dani searched the landscape for an answer but for some reason the truth wasn't anywhere on the horizon.

"I was slightly preoccupied with the monster trying to dismember me." It sounded good right?

"Oh hey did you figure out that if you knocked them unconscious they disappeared?" The Blue Ranger did his best to intervene. However the steely gaze from Sky never left Dani.

"Yeah Bridge I figured that out…" she lied not looking at the Blue Ranger in fear that he might sense the truth.

"I wonder who sent those…" Bridge mused out loud. "Cuz someone had to have sent them, they were made of psychic energy. You can't have a display of power like that without someone behind it. Mostly because it has to be a someone in order for it to be psychic energy otherwise if it was a something it would be more like a hologram."

"Bridge." The Red Ranger finally took his accusing stare from Dani and pointed it at his best friend.

"Yeah Sky?"

"Save it for Cruger."

Sky turned and headed for his bike his stride clearly stating that he was not waiting for the others. Putting on his helmet he gave the throttle a few good turns letting the bike roar to life before speeding off, presumably back to the base. Dani let a sigh of relief that did not go unnoticed by the Blue Ranger.

"You okay?" Bridge laid a comforting hand on the Green Rangers shoulder. As casually as she could Dani shrugged it off,

"Yeah I'm fine, just, you know first battle and all…makes you a little jittery." Dani tried to smile but she could still taste the bile and wanted nothing more than to go back take a shower and brush her teeth for an hour straight.

"I remember my first battle…" The Blue Rangers eyes slowly misted over and soon Dani was lost in a recounting of how Z had actually come to be on the team that lasted all the way back to the base.

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_Thanks for all of you who are still keeping up with this thing. I truly appreciate everyone who is reading and even more to the ones reviewing. I'm going to apologize in advance for any plot holes that might pop up from here on out. I promise to get maintenance in here to fill those in as soon as possible. _

_Blue - _


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N- Sorry about how long this has taken everyone. For an explanation of why I haven't been writing much lately check my profile. _

_p.s – thanks to whoever nominated this story in the What a Character Awards! And thank you even more to everyone who voted for it! LOVE!_

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_Disclaimer – you know since this series has now been long over you think maybe I could buy it from Disney at a discount price? It's not like they're using it…but until then I still don't own them._

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Chapter 15

Bridge was confused. Not that it was anything new for him but this time it had nothing to with the wires in his computer or the way he may or may not feel about a certain Yellow Ranger. What had the Blue Ranger so confused was his former roommate and supposed best friend. Although for the last week that had been more of a one-way street type deal. Not that Sky had been avoiding him exclusively; he avoided the entire squad when he could. Except at training when he couldn't and then he barely spoke to them outside of issuing commands or, and Bridge was pretty sure of this, silently plotted new and evil ways to torture them through use of the mud course.

So Sky had a problem with Dani…why? Bridge couldn't figure it out. She was smart, strong, undeniably pretty, and from the academy even! She was a model cadet and ranger, excelling in everything that she did, and (Bridge thought that this may be it) almost too good to be true.

His first hint had come from that battle with the weird energy monsters (who still had been unnamed even though Bridge had offered up multiple suggestions, all of which had been turned down) Her aura had been off. Way off. And he hadn't meant to look but during the battle, after he had scanned the big uglies for Sky, his glove had been lost in the melee. He tried to keep his hand shoved in his pocket but his bike required two hands to ride and well maybe, but definitely not on purpose, he may have, totally by accident, caught something off the newest addition to B squad. It was dark and sad and …boded. What it boded Bridge didn't know he just knew that it, well, boded. There was something there that she wasn't telling them and whereas everyone might have their secrets, Bridge could tell that hers where the kind that hurt…deep.

Sky wasn't the only one avoiding him. Dani was too. Had been ever since they had gotten back to the base that day. After reporting to Cruger she had disappeared into her room and no one had seen her for the rest of the day. But then again Bridge mused given the nature of her power she could have been there the entire time and they wouldn't have known it. Well he would have. You can change your shape but you can't change your aura. It was something that was uniquely you.

Maybe she knew what he had seen. Or maybe she just knew what he could see if he had the inclination to look. So wasn't avoiding him almost like a lie by omission? Of course if you thought that way then he was overly guilty of not telling Sky what he had felt. But even through all the darkness their had been light. Dani was a good a person Bridge was sure of that. She just had …well he wasn't quite sure what she had but he was pretty sure that it was a past, and that it may have involved the creatures they had fought somehow. The thing was that no matter what he thought he knew or suspected his glimpse of her aura had lasted only seconds and from that he couldn't be positive. But then again only fools were positive…

A quick kick to the stomach accomplished two things. One- Bringing Bridge back to the reality that was a sparring session, and two – knocking him to the mat where a very pleased and at the same time concerned Z Delgado stood above him.

"Bridge where were you?" she asked reaching a hand out to help her teammate off the floor.

"Here?" he answered confused as to where else he might have been.

"No your body was here, but your mind was a million miles away."

"Sorry." He quickly apologized while lifting himself off the mat. Bridge gave her a goofy grin before realizing that he was still holding her hand. Turning a light shade of pink he hastily let go leaving Z feeling confused. She quickly turned towards the bench and her workout bag hoping her wouldn't see the disappointment in her eyes.

"So where was your mind?" She asked casually sipping from her water bottle silently hoping that maybe he was just so stunned at how good she looked in workout clothes that had small holes forming and sweat stains in all the wrong places he just couldn't focus but had a nagging suspicion that wasn't it. The Blue Ranger sat down and took a long chug from his own bottle before answering.

"I was thinking about Dani." He stated and Z's heart sank. She was afraid of that. Not noticing the change in her demeanor, Bridge continued. "Don't you think it's weird how outside of training we hardly ever see her? I mean aren't we supposed to be a team? And what about Sky? He's just as bad and he's supposed to be leading us! Is it just me or does Sky seem more distant than usual?" He turned to face Z his face filled with genuine concern but she was convinced that Bridge knew no other way to be. Deciding an honest question deserved an honest answer Z sat down on the bench next to her teammate and thought about what he said.

Dani was new and even though it seemed as though they had gotten on pretty well her first day it had to be a little overwhelming coming into an established team that had history together. She was lucky in that when she had joined up she wasn't alone, she had had Jack, and that had made all the difference in the world. Z knew from experience that Sky could be the most unwelcoming person in the world, but Bridge was right, the way he was being towards Dani was just mean. The Yellow Ranger would be the first to admit that Sky was and probably always would be a jerk but he had gotten better. Had apparently being the operative word. Recently it seemed as though not only had the stick made its way back up his butt, but it had decided to invite a few of its friends to join it.

" You're right." She finally answered. "Sky's been…off."

"I knew I wasn't the only one who noticed!" He beamed at her and Z felt her insides warm. "And what about Dani I mean doesn't she seem even more…"

"Reserved?" Z offered.

"Yeah." The conversation trailed as the teammates watched the topic of their conversation enter the gym.

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It had been a week since she joined B squad and Dani was having doubts. The run in with the creatures in the warehouse had left her questioning everything she had known about herself. She knew that there was a large portion of her life that she couldn't remember. But it had all been explained to her.

There had been a terrible car accident. They had been at the mall. A girl's day out while her father was lecturing at the local college. A truck driver fell asleep at the wheel and wandered into their lane. The ensuing accident killed her mother and left her in a coma for the next 3 years. She didn't remember any of it. Not even the parts before the accident but she had woken up in a hospital and been assured that it was all true. Dani was taken to visit her mother's grave and given time for the reality to set in. She joined the academy shortly thereafter; an extremely late admission, but circumstances and her fathers name were enough to overlook such a small detail.

Dani had never questioned, never felt the need to question, what she had been told because frankly who would make something like that up? Unless…

Unless it turned out the truth was much more terrifying.

Ignoring the calls of her teammates to join them Dani headed straight for the weight machines. She had been working hard lately hoping that if she used all of her energy during the day when she went to bed she would be too exhausted to even dream. So far the plan had not been working. Every night she was plagued with the visions the monster had saddled her with. Terrible images of things that whoever had done this wanted her to believe that she had done. But it couldn't be true. There was no way…was there? The sharp voice of her squad leader brought her out of her reflections.

"Cruger wants us in the training room now." Sky informed them before leaving the gym as quickly as he had entered.

Z and Bridge both watched the Red Ranger exit before glancing over to the weight machine that had been occupied by Danielle but was now vacant. Shrugging their shoulders they gathered their things and headed to the simulator rooms.

* * *

_  
sorry this is so short but I wanted you to all know that I was still here and this was still getting worked on! Life just has this annoying habit of getting in the way…_


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